The Saviour
by RebelBookWorm
Summary: Hermione nearly freezes to death, and is saved. But by who? And how will she react to their kindness? A story told in short snippets, because I think it's more fun that way. I tried to keep everyone in character, I hope I was successful. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

Hermione Jean Granger is locked out of Hogwarts castle. She doesn't remember how she got into this situation, all she really knows right now is that it's COLD. She frantically searches for her wand, her cloak pocket conspicuously empty. She curses into the air, frustrated and a little bit frightened. She glances around at the snow, hoping that she's dropped her wand nearby, panic slowly rising in her chest. Fighting to maintain some level of calm, she begins to retrace her steps, trying desperately to remember where she was. Finally she finds it, halfway across the grounds, half buried in the soft, powdery snow that began to accumulate an hour ago. Her cloak, unfortunately not her good thick winter one, is doing precious little to insulate her from the cold. She can feel her fingers going numb. Quickly, she casts a spell, a small blue flame appearing in her hand. As she runs toward the castle, a sudden gust of wind blows the flame from her hand, extinguishing it in a large snowdrift. She's almost at the door now. Her hand shaking with cold, she points the wand toward the door and mutters "Alohamora!" Much to her relief, because she can feel the numbing cold spreading through her limbs, the large door creaks open and she shuffles inside. The castle is by no means hot, so she won't warm up completely until she reaches the common room, where, no doubt, a huge fire is blazing in the fireplace. Thinking wistfully of that crackling fire to take her mind off her frozen fingers, she begins the long walk to her common room. Halfway there, heading down a corridor, she passes out and lands heavily on the cold stone floor. 


	2. Chapter 2

In what he thinks of later as sheer luck, he happens to be passing by that corridor, at that exact moment. He sees her fall, and rushes to her side. He tries to shake her awake, and realizes she is very, very cold. Panicing slightly, he picks her up and rushes toward the Gryffindor common room. All of his attention is focused on her, and her icy coldness. He babbles the password at the fat lady, who swings wide to admit him, he will later admit that he didn't remember whether she spoke to him as he passed through or not. His mind working quickly, he places her in front of the fireplace and begins rubbing her shoulders vigorously in an attempt to warm her up. It doesn't seem to be helping, so he picks her up again and, remembering that he can't climb the girls' staircase, heads up to his room instead. He pulls off her frozen clothes and, to protect her modesty, puts his pyjama top on over her head. He lays her gently in his bed and covers her up, but his bed is cold, and without any real body heat of her own, she'll continue to freeze. So he puts on the matching pyjama bottoms and gets under the covers with her, hoping to use his body heat to warm her up. He pulls her close to him, still alarmed by the coldness of her body. He can feel her involuntary shivers through the thick pyjama top she's wearing. He pulls her closer, willing her to warm up, to stop shivering. She does, finally, but she's still cold, and she's still not awake. He keeps her close, finding that, surprisingly, he's enjoying the proximity. He drapes his arm around her, turning her small body over so that he can warm the other side. Finally, finally, she's warm again. By this time, though, he's fast asleep, his arm still held loosely around her waist.


	3. Chapter 3

Morning comes, too early, as always. He groans and starts to turn over before noticing that he's not alone in his bed right now. The events of last night come flooding back in a rush, and he reaches over to tentatively touch her face. It's warm again, and he sighs with relief. He holds his hand there for a moment, relieved that she is okay. The gentle pressure of his hand causes her to stir and wake. Her eyes flicker open, she sees him there, next to her. For a moment nothing happens, then her eyes widen as she looks down at herself, in his pyjama top. They dart to him, his arm draped around her waist casually, his well-muscled chest glaringly bare. Her eyes narrow, her hand pulls back, and... *SMACK* . He'll feel that one for a while. She gets up, her face turning red, and runs from the room. He sits up, rubs his cheek, and scratches his head absently. "You save a girl's life once and she gets bloody mental on you!" he grumbles, his usual good humor replaced, temporarily, with irritation. it's washed away, though, by the one person who knows him better then anyone else. They shout, from the bed beside him, "Nice going, Gred!"


	4. Chapter 4

She's mad. Beyond mad, even. She's furious with the Weasley twin. How could he do this to her? She had trusted him, had never expected this from HIM. She remembers losing consciousness, and then waking up in his bed. Everything in between is gone, she supposes she must have been out cold the whole time. She feels her cheeks warm at the thought of that, and is immediately angry at herself for feeling any pleasure at the idea. She runs to her dormitory, and dives under the covers of her four-poster, in no mood to interact with anyone, even her two best friends. Besides, if she tells them what happened, they'll both go after him, and she's not sure she wants that, not yet. She's still not entirely sure what happened, and until she knows for sure, the logical, sensible part of her brain is telling her not to jump to conclusions. So she tries to find a logical conclusion. One that doesn't involve Fred Weasley taking advantage of her.


	5. Chapter 5

Fred Weasley turns to his twin, a smile automatically lighting up his face. Instead of answering, he chucks his pillow at George Weasley's grinning face. "It's not like that, Forge!" his twin just chuckles and throws the pillow back. Sighing, he rubs his sore cheek once more and climbs from the warm sanctuary of his bed. His friend, Lee Jordan, pokes his head out from behind his curtain and tries to find out what he missed, only to have a pillow chucked at his face. The two lean, lanky brothers change quickly and exit their dormitory, George anxious to talk and Fred anxious to escape the questioning glances of his dorm-mates. The common room is empty, and therefore boring, so they exit through the portrait hole and disappear into a secret passage a little ways down the hall. George corners him, and begins to question him. Laughing, Fred explains what really happened between him and Hermione: Nothing. George isn't sure he believes his twin; Fred has been acting strangely around Hermione for a while now. Not in a noticeable way, of course, but George knows he has been feeling differently about her then he should. He decides to believe his twin, figuring that he'll need someone on his side once this gets out to the school. Turning to his twin, George says, "So, what should we do today, Gred?" and Fred knows then that his brother is on his side.


	6. Chapter 6

After spending half an hour trying to figure out why she woke up in Fred Weasley's bed this morning, Hermione realizes two things. One: she is going to be late for breakfast if she stays in bed any later, and two: she has no idea what happened last night. She is dressed and heading down to breakfast in another ten minutes, dreading seeing HIM in the great hall. Because no doubt he'll be there, and he might even try to talk to her. She almost turns around then and goes to the kitchens instead, but before she can, her two best friends show up, and begin to chat with her, inadvertently forcing her along with them; because she can't leave without them being suspicious, and asking questions she doesn't want to answer. Sighing and wishing she had just a little bit more Griffindor courage, she heads toward the Great Hall, and HIM. When she gets there, she almost cries out with relief. George is sitting there, with his friends, and Fred is nowhere to be seen. George glances up at her curiously, feeling her eyes on him, and winks exaggeratedly. She blushes and turns away, back to her friends, glad for one less thing to think about.


	7. Chapter 7

Fred Weasley is eating breakfast with the house elves, in the kitchen. Dobby keeps smiling broadly at him, calling him "Friend-of-Harry-Potter!" and bringing him more food, and the other house-elves keep asking if he desires anything else. He supposes it's not all bad, but he wishes he could be in the great hall with his friends. He thinks he is missing out on some grand scheming, and this dampens his mood a little. He's here because he wanted to give Hermione some space, and because he doesn't want to get smacked again, in front of the whole school. George has agreed to meet him later. He went to breakfast because he wants to talk to Angelina and Lee, and has also agreed to keep an eye on Hermione for Fred. Once he has eaten all his stomach can hold, he stands up and makes his way to where he is going to meet George. He wants to know what he missed out on today, and he has a great idea for a new invention that he wants to share with his twin. He skirts as many main corridors as he can, taking several secret passages that he and George discovered with the help of the Marauder's map he gave Harry a few years ago. He knows them so well now that he doesn't have to think about where he is going, and his mind begins to wander. It finds it's way back to last night, of course, and he wonders how to explain to her what happened. Eventually, without really reaching a concrete decision (he's deciding between ignoring it completely and trying to corner her between classes, and if that doesn't work he's thinking he'll just shout it at her in a public place like the library) he meets his twin, heading the opposite direction in the same passageway. They're going to pull a prank on Filch today, and Fred is excited, the way he is every time he gets into mischief. The twins, eyes gleaming with excitement, hurry down the passageway and toward their (mostly) unsuspecting victim, chatting all the while.


	8. Chapter 8

Hermione is being snappish and she knows it, and she also knows that her two best friends are quickly growing exasperated with her. Ron tries to ask her why she was looking at George, to which she replies curtly that it is none of his business. He looks hurt, and Harry tries to stick up for his friend. Hermione snaps at Harry, too, who looks equally as wounded. She feels bad, she really does. She just has too much on her mind and that always saps her patience. 'Mione, what's wrong?" Ron finally asks, after she snaps at him again. "Nothing, Ronald, I'm fine," she hears herself saying, as she rises and collects her belongings. "I'm going to the library." as she leaves, she hears Ron mutter, presumably to Harry, "Girls, mate. I'll never understand them." She smiles as in her mind's eye she sees Harry nodding to her ginger friend. She knows them so well, and for so long, so why can't she tell them what happened last night? Ah, yes. Because she doesn't know, herself. And because she hates jumping to conclusions. She reaches the library door, and is in the process of opening it, when she remembers she has class soon. And at the other end of school, no less. How could she have forgotten about it? Oh, yeah. Fred Weasley potentially took advantage of her last night. Even though it doesn't sound at all like something he would do. She's known him since she started going to Hogwarts, and Frederick Gideon Weasley was not the type to do that. This knowledge confuses her to no end, and she doesn't like that. She's trying to decide whether she'd prefer not knowing so much about Fred's character, so she could believe he was nothing more then a prat she could loose her two best friends on, when she walks into class. She takes her usual seat next to Ron, and spends the entire lesson, except for a brief period of time in which a rather loud noise from the direction of Filch's office disrupts the whole class, trying to help Ron improve his transfiguration skills.


	9. Chapter 9

The two figures in the shadows wait for the caretaker, Filch, to fall victim to their prank. It's genius, one of their best, they think. Before anything happens, though, they try to get as far away from his office as possible. They know he will know it's them right away, but with any luck they can avoid yet another detention. Not that it really bugs them, but Angelina's sure to yell at them if they miss another quidditch practice. They sneak into the back of their Charms class, where professor Flitwick gives them a cursory glance before returning to his lesson. He has long since given up on controlling the wild Weasley twins, he knows they are some of the best charms students he's ever had, and that's good enough for him. The boys can hardly control their excitement, the time inching by. Finally, the signal they're waiting for comes: Filch, screaming his head off. "Yes!" the boys shout in unison, high-fiving each other. For a moment, the rest of the class is deathly silent, and then, gradually, they break into fits of laughter. Soon, the whole classroom has lost it, and Fred looks on proudly. He is proud of himself, of his brother, and of his achievement. Flitwick tries half-heartedly to regain the class's attention, but to no avail. Lee is crying with laughter, doubled over beside Katie Bell, who is holding her sides. Angelina is alternating between glaring at them and laughing. Everyone knows that the Weasleys are behind this, and that's just how they like it. 


	10. Chapter 10

Fred and George have detention. Hermione has never been more grateful to hear that. She won't have to face HIM tonight. She promises herself that if she hasn't figured out what actually happened last night by tomorrow, she'll tell Harry and Ron everything she remembers. She goes to bed early, her homework finished, not wanting to risk running into the twins. She hurries upstairs to her bedroom, suddenly exhausted. She pulls on her pyjamas, and crawls into bed. Pulling the covers up to her chin, she begins to think about what happened last night. This time, though, she makes herself think even further back, to being locked out. Most of those memories have been overwhelmed by one powerful sensation: Cold. Deep, bone-chilling cold. But she has a vague memory of opening the castle door and beginning her walk toward Gryffindor tower. Then she remembers passing out, and waking up next to Fred. She is still puzzled, so she tries to dissect each thing she can remember, remembering a test-taking strategy she taught herself. Then, right in the middle of this exercise, the tendril of thought hits her. It worms it's way into her mind, and doesn't let go. What if Fred never did anything wrong? Maybe he found her, passed out, cold, near death, and saved her. This seems like the most likely solution, and is the one she wants most desperately to believe. She doesn't want to believe Fred capable of taking advantage of anyone, so as she drifts off to sleep, she decides not to.


	11. Chapter 11

When Hermione wakes up, she is even more certain that she is right. Now, she has to decide how she's going to apologize for her behaviour. She is embarrassed just thinking about it, she doesn't know how she'll face him. Sending a letter is too impersonal and cold, she can't do that. Cornering him between class would take more courage then she thought she'd ever have. Finally, half an hour later and no closer to a solution, Hermione trudges down to breakfast. She doesn't think about whether Fred will be there today, and is extraordinarily shocked to see him sitting with his friends. She is ready to turn around again, feeling mortified, when she notices Harry and Ron waving her over to them. If she walks away now, they'll think she is avoiding them, and she's not. Besides, she owes them one from yesterday. Trying to gather as much courage as she can, she tells herself that she is a Gryffindor and marches right past Fred to drop into a seat beside her friends. She hopes her face isn't red, but she knows that her emotions are usually clear on her face. And, as she expects, her friends question her behavior, and her red face. She murmurs something that seems to placate them, without really hearing herself. They let the subject drop, and she is very grateful. She tries to participate in their conversation, but she can feel the heat of someone's eyes on her back. She doesn't turn around fearing that it's Fred, angry for her behaviour earlier. She can't blame him, of course, she was out of line. Finally, it is time for class, and she rises to leave, grateful. By now, the entire hall is full of students, all chatting with each other and eating with fervor, and she is glad to escape the crowded Great Hall. 


	12. Chapter 12

As Hermione passes Fred, he turns around, tries to catch her eye. She doesn't look at him, though, apparently trying to ignore him. But Fred is having none of that. As she passes him he calls out, "Oi, Hermione!" he knows she heard him, and that she can't ignore him without making people suspicious. If she still thinks what he thinks she does, she won't want people to be suspicious of her relationship with Fred. "Catch you later, Gred!" George elbows him, he can hear the laughter in his twin's voice. Lowering his voice he adds, "good luck, mate." George somehow manages to take of all his friends with him, something Fred is grateful for. Hermione turns, slowly, to face him, her face bright, cherry red. She doesn't meet his eyes, though, and instead stares at her feet. "I want to talk to you," he continues, trying to act like nothing's wrong. She mumbles about being late to class, but he won't have that, either. "If you won't talk to me privately, I'll just tell everyone here about it, too." She looks mortified and, looking apologetically toward her friends, moves toward Fred. He is expecting her to sit and listen, or shout and leave, but he isn't expecting her to throw herself at him, and begin to kiss him, hard (something she later claims she was not planning to do). She murmurs 'Sorry,' against his lips, and numbly he figures out that she knows exactly what he wants to tell her. He always knew she was smart. Without really thinking, he begins to kiss back, turning it into full-fledged snogging. Catcalls and whistles greet them as they break apart, and she looks mortified again. "I'm sorry for doubting you," she whispers, for his ears only. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Ron, who looks dumbstruck; he then looks at Harry, who stares somewhere over Fred's shoulder, giving her privacy, always the good friend. Fred decides to give the Great Hall a show, and begins to waltz Hermione around the room before dipping her dramatically and planting a big, fat, noisy kiss on her lips. He knows the smacking sound will carry through the hall, and he has to fight not to laugh aloud. Her face is red as she is raised from the dip, but she is smiling. He takes this as a good sign, and pulls her to him again, and this time it is his turn to murmur against HER lips. "I love you." She smiles and answers, "I know."


End file.
